Japanese firms have developed a new type of environment-friendly concrete that hardens with the use of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted from thermal power plants.
It is made by adding a special admixture of calcium oxide and silicon dioxide to ordinary concrete materials along with coal ash. The admixture triggers a carbonization reaction with CO2 and hardens the concrete.
The use of coal ash in addition to the special admixture reduces the amount of CO2 emissions during manufacture. Furthermore, because the admixture absorbs CO2 in the process of hardening, the amount of emissions in the sequence from manufacture to hardening can, in effect, be held below zero.
The concrete was developed jointly by Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc., Kajima Corporation and Denki Kagaku Kogyo K.K. Chugoku Electric Power intends to use the concrete for pavement blocks at its public relations facility for a photovoltaic power generation plant now under construction. Thereafter, the companies hope to develop bigger concrete products and expand the range of product application fields.
